After 9 weeks of staying at home for the summer break, kiddo has finally gone back to school today! Yay - deliverance! I'd say that qualifies for me sitting down with a slice of awesome cake and savouring the whole deal, for once in 9 weeks not having to hide in my pantry so no little inquiring minds can know I am enjoying a forbidden moment when I'm not being their mental chew toy. *grin*
I always underestimate the impact of school breaks - I keep saying, the boys are grown so they'll leave me alone for a few hours a day and I can get my stuff done. Wrong! Having kids inside your house, with just a wall separating you from their loud (and often violent!) video games soundtrack and their very own bickering and ourbursts that would put the biggest cat-fighters to shame - tata, sanity!
But thank goodness that is now over. Kiddo starts 5th year in primary. Kind of a big step, because 6th year is the last of primary in the Mauritian education system, and there's a huge national exam to sanction the end of primary years. Foundation work for that milestone started last year when he did Year 4, but it is now in Year 5 that the heat will start to be felt... and since neither myself nor the hubby wanted to give in to the pressure to add extra lessons (which is a huge and totally warped culture in Mauritius. Kids in private tuition/lessons before and after the school day, sometimes even on weekends. When will they get to be kids, for goodness' sake???) So, yeah - this means I'll be having to monitor the little one with his lessons. Thank goodness I wasn't that lousy at school, and hopefully, can help coach him some so he can shine (without pressure and extreme expectations).
That takes care of my weekends, which will now be family time. But the weekdays... Oh, baby, do we have stuff going on in the weekdays too, now. :)
2012 was a fantabulous year for me. I signed contracts for 4 books - 2 of which came out the same year; the remaining 2, that I wrote during the year, coming out shortly in 2013. There have been ups, and some downs (namely a huge upheaval at one of my publishers. Thank goodness they seem to have gotten back on their feet quite quickly, and I look forward to working with them again this year).
Mostly, there have been ups - with me joining the author lineup at Decadent Publishing back in January of last year, I never dreamed where this association would take me. I ended 2012 as the Managing Editor of a brand new line Decadent had rolled out during the year. Ubuntu is its name, with stories, mainly romance, focusing on the African landscape, culture, and horizons. The very first book from this line is coming out this week, btw. Stay tuned for more on that.
I know I said someplace on this blog itself that, at one point, I let go of editing to focus on being an author. And that's exactly what I did. But the call to edit was strong, too, and I think I might just have been waiting for the right opportunity to arise. It came up the day Heather Bennett, co-owner of Decadent Publishing, "innocently" pulled me into a conversation about Africa and precisely, what modern Africa looked like (she'd heard I lived on the continent. Yes, Mauritius is considered part of Africa!). We got to talking... and then, Bam! She dropped the bomb - she and Lisa Omstead, the other DP owner, wanted to start a line geared toward African romance, and they needed someone to steer it. Would I agree to be that someone?
After speaking about this with my family, I got their green light... and haven't looked back. Never would I have thought when I started 2012 that I'd end up where I did. My goal was to write a few stories and get them published. What's happened has soared beyond my hopes.
Another dream of mine started to take shape last year, when I joined hands with my bestie and the woman I consider my soul sister, author Natalie G. Owens. We finally got down to starting a book series we're co-writing. The progression on that one beat all our expectations, and now we're cruising toward the finishing and release of our first book from that venture, called Eternelles.
2013 promises to be an even greater year. I also promise you much more of me (okay, you have my permission to run for the hills right away screaming "Gaaaahhhh!!!" LOL) on this platform. The posts should return daily, and I'll also be blogging 3 Wednesdays a month at the Pop Culture Divas blog. Gonna try my best to book some fantabulous guests to visit this year also, with more books for you to discover.
On the whole, 2013 will, I hope, be MY year, even more than 2012 has been. It will be my greatest joy to go on this journey with ye all right by my side, in this blog's audience, and also on my Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest journeys.
Big thank you to everyone who is reading this, and/or who visits my little slice of Zee-land on this blog here. After having my family with me, I am nothing without all of you.
Best wished for a rocken' 2013, peeps! Let's set the world on fire!
From Mauritius with love,
Zee
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